Herb Restaurant

***** In 1939 Siam became Thailand. Around 30 years ago, I had the honor of playing The King in “The King and I” in Buffalo Grove. During this period, I was able to learn a great deal about the country and the changes that were made during the years before World War II. For one thing, their food is colorful and quite tasty. Tonight, Frank, Jane, Cary and I went to a restaurant that is considered one of the top ten Thai in the Midwest. The restaurant is named  “Herb” and its owner, Award-Winning chef is Patty Neusom.

herb is located in the Edgewater neighborhood at 5424 N. Broadway ( very close to both Edge Theaters) and while you might not think anything about the exterior, once you enter the door into the dining room, you will feel as if you are in a special room. They have booths and high tables and a menu that is not what you might expect. They call their menu a “tasting menu” and it has two sides. The first side is one that has plates that contain meat or chicken, the other side , whole food plant based. Everything is based on “dinner for Two” and in both forms, a “deluxe”, a “Supreme” and a “Chef’s Special”

The difference in the three categories: Deluxe offers two starters, soup and two entrees. Supreme offers 3 starters, soup two entrees and dessert and lastly the Chef’s Special offers 4 starters, soup, three entrees and dessert. This is a lot of food. The prices range from $49 per person to $89 per person which is not a lot when you think about the special meal that you will enjoy.

FYI- while they are set-up as a “dinner for Two” fixed menu, they will allow a la carte choices to make your own meal.

Here is what we selected to taste-

Starters: Betal Leaves (toasted coconut, diced ginger, shallot. lime, bird eye chili pepper, peanut, and palm sugar sauce- delicious

Crispy Frizzy Prawns: rice paper, micro green with a sweet/sour mango sauce- quite flavorful

Fried Fish Cake_ Persian cucumber, ground peanut, cilantro, spicy sweet tamarind sauce- interesting flavor

Pan Fried- Chive Dumpling – tapioca flour, chives, herbs, garlic, sweet soy sauce- tasty and flavorful

The soup- Tumeric Trio Mushroom soup (oyster mushroom, king mushroom, Shinmei mushroom, tomato, dill, coriander leaves served with a coconut herbal broth that sparks the flavors in the bowl!

For the entree’s we selected the sautéed spicy mince Pork tenderloin with herbs and vegetables ( served with steamed jasmine rice) and the Award-Winning Curry with Chicken ( rice vermicelli noodle accompanied with a variety if vegetables, ( this is also available as a bean curd curry or a minced fish curry).

For desert, they offer a sweet sticky rice with ripped mango otherwise known as “The Chef’s Whim”- a delightful taste for sure.

Our server, Christina was very knowledgeable on the menu and helped guide us through this very special dining experience.

While this is not a typical menu for most of us, it is a dining experience that will make for a memory and give you something to tell your freinds and family about. It is not often that one gets to dine out and then share the experience. This is a top rated dining experience by the industry as well as my 5 star recommendation.

Herb is located at 5424 N. Broadway in Chicago.

They are open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m.

to make a reservation call 773-944-9050 or visit www.herbrestaurant.com